On January 23, 2019, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (which hears appeals from the federal district courts in and for Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin) issued an en banc decision in Dale E. Kleber v. CareFusion Corporation, a case in which the court wrestled with whether applicants for employment may successfully pursue disparate impact claims … Continue Reading

In its first opinion of the 2018 term, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Mount Lemmon Fire Dist. v. Guido, No. 17-587, slip op. at 1-7 (November 6, 2018) that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) applies to all political subdivisions of states, regardless of size, rejecting an argument that the 20-employee jurisdictional threshold … Continue Reading

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) prohibits covered employers from discriminating against employees and applicants who are age 40 or older. All private employers are subject to the ADEA unless they have less than 20 employees. States, and their agencies, instrumentalities and political subdivisions, also fall under the ADEA. However, courts have split on … Continue Reading

In a recent decision, United States District Court Judge Vince Chhabria issued a preliminary injunction, temporarily suspending AB 1687, a California law requiring certain online entertainment websites to remove ages of Hollywood actors, upon request by those individuals. The law’s stated purpose is to prevent age discrimination in the entertainment industry. IMDb.com, Inc., owned by … Continue Reading

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has provided additional time for public comment on its recently-issued proposed guidelines on unlawful harassment. The 75-page draft, which issued on January 9, 2017, expands upon existing interpretations of many aspects of workplace harassment, including prohibited bases for harassment, conduct constituting illegal harassment, the role of social media, … Continue Reading

On August 29, 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final “Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues,” which replaced the Agency’s nearly-20-year-old 1998 Compliance Manual, Section 8: Retaliation. As the title clearly implies, the guidance primarily sets forth the Agency’s evolving interpretations of the law of retaliation. It also focuses on the … Continue Reading

Back at the end of July we noted the decision of the Liverpool Employment Tribunal in Gerry Abrams Limited –v- EAD Solicitors LLP that a limited company could claim age discrimination. That rather surprising conclusion then went off to the Employment Appeal Tribunal which has just found in unassailably clear terms that this is correct … Continue Reading

Just when you think you have mostly got a grip on the scope of UK discrimination law, along comes a whole new avenue of legal debate. Gerry Abrams Limited -v- EAD Solicitors LLP is the first reported case of a claim for direct discrimination by a limited company. In brief, Mr Abrams was a member … Continue Reading

Manager A tells manager B that employee C isn’t up to the job. Believing this to be true, B sacks C. Is B guilty of discrimination if A’s report to him is tainted by improper considerations of C’s age? This sounds like an examination question but was actually a real issue facing the Court of … Continue Reading

On April 29, the US Supreme Court held unanimously that courts may review the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) efforts to informally resolve disputes between employers and employees. The EEOC, which is charged with policing compliance with employment discrimination laws, is required by statute to first try informal mediation methods to resolve disputes between employers … Continue Reading

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released its annual statistical report detailing charge filing activity in 2014. The EEOC, the federal administrative agency which investigates and prosecutes claims of employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation under a number of employment and civil rights statutes, reported 88,778 charges filed in 2014, down from 93,727 charges filed … Continue Reading

One of the bastions of British soap opera has seemingly become tired of your run-of-the-mill torrid affaire/grisly murder/dodgy dealings stories and for a bit of dramatic spice has turned instead to the world of employment law. While as lawyers we already know that there is little which makes more compelling viewing than a juicy discrimination … Continue Reading

Imagine trying to justify your compulsory retirement age on the basis that it represented roughly the point where your employees were performing at their best. Impossible, right? Not so, said the London Central Employment Tribunal last month in White –v- Ministry of Justice. Hearing the claim of a Circuit Judge that his compulsory retirement at … Continue Reading

Back in June 2013 I reported, in hindsight somewhat optimistically, the “last knockings” of the saga formerly known as Seldon – v – Clarkson Wright & Jakes https://www.employmentlawworldview.com/miss-collegiality-invalid-justification-in-uk-age-discrimination-claims/. This is the age discrimination claim by a law firm partner obliged to retire at 65, first brought in 2007 and finally killed off, we had thought, … Continue Reading

So there I was, happily watching one of those television shows where journalists sit around a table and talk earnestly about football when suddenly off the conversational subs’ bench leaps a real employment law issue. The reference was made by Henry Winter (Daily Telegraph Football Correspondent), who claimed that he receives emails on a regular … Continue Reading

Much squawking in the UK media hen-coop this week about proposals by the Government to introduce into the UK workplace the concept of the “protected conversation”. Put shortly, this is designed to allow employers to raise questions with employees which in the ordinary course of events would risk landing them in the Employment Tribunal. These … Continue Reading

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About the Employment Law Worldview Blog

The Employment Law Worldview Blog aims to interest and educate, to stimulate discussion, to provoke and sometimes just to amuse HR and other practitioners around the world. Through contributions from our own Labor & Employment lawyers, along with occasional guest writers, it provides a unique global insight into practical and legal HR issues relevant to employers everywhere.

About the Labor and Employment Team

The Employment Law Worldview Blog aims to interest and educate, to stimulate discussion, to provoke and sometimes just to amuse HR and other practitioners around the world. Through contributions from our own Labor & Employment lawyers, along with occasional guest writers, it provides a unique global insight into practical and legal HR issues relevant to employers everywhere. READ MORE